Taking Form in this Tainted Moonlight
by TheWritingMustache
Summary: Predator noun 1. an animal that naturally preys on others: wolves are major predators of rodents. Alex meets a predator unlike anything he's seen before. Desmond whines about meeting the Blacklight virus. They get over it eventually. [AU] [M]
1. Chapter 1

So originally I was just gonna post this on AO3 and keep it there, but I thought, ah what the hell, I guess you guys deserve to read it here too. Just unfortunately for all of you, when it gets to the sexy parts, they just won't be included in this site's version. Bummer, right?

Ehmmm, do I even need to say this is a crossover AU at this point?

 **x-X-X-x**

* * *

He hated clubs. He hated bars. He hated any place where people were packed together like sardines, and it was loud, and smelly, and just one big clusterfuck of a headache to begin with. The only reason Alex ever went to these kinds of places was because Dana asked him, and how could he say no to Dana? Especially when she made those giant puppy eyes at him with the quivering lip as she clung to his arm and begged he come with. Foolproof plan on her part to get him to do anything, the only person in all of New York that could make the Blacklight virus bend to her will.

So that's how he found himself standing outside a club in Brooklyn, Bad Weather it was called. It sounded so stupid, but apparently it was a pretty popular place, where the music was good, and the drinks were even better. Known for a specialty drink called the "Shirley Templar", something everyone was dying to get their hands on. Yeah, sure, uh huh, whatever they all said. Alex hadn't even stepped inside the place yet, and he could feel the virus churning around in his head irritatingly.

It was gonna be a long night.

Inside was even worse in his opinion. The bass of the music practically pounded a hole through his chest, and there were just too many people for his liking, and he found himself clinging on to Dana for dear life. But there was something else about this place, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He felt…He felt like he wasn't allowed to be here. There was this smell…This feeling…An apprehensive feeling he had only felt when he used to dive into Hives, like he was somewhere he didn't belong, but he had to be there regardless for his mission. But this wasn't a mission, this wasn't a Hive, and yet, there was still this underlying feeling-

Of danger.

Dana pulled him along through the club, throwing them into the thick of the crowd. Alex felt numb through it, hardly noticed as people bounced off him. Something was here, and he didn't know whether to run and drag Dana along with, or stay and face it. He doubted whatever it was, it would make a scene in the middle of all these people, but worse things had happened in the past. Eventually he let Dana go, just to move off to the side, away from the crowd, just to think, just to breathe.

He had to figure this out, whatever this was. He had never felt this overwhelmed before, not ever since he had handled the Redlight outbreak. Since that ended, he had felt nothing but relative peace in terms of roaming New York's streets. But here? Here was different. Here was like…walking into someone else's territory, and knowing full well you didn't belong.

But who's territory was he trespassing in?

He found out soon enough. Dana managed to find him, panting like she had run a mile and said to him, "Holy shit Alex, I need a drink, let's get one!"

Alex followed her to the bar, and the closer they got to it, the more that feeling of danger grew. Thankfully the lights weren't all that bright in there to the human eye, otherwise Dana would have saw the look on his face, twisted into a grimace as he got closer and closer to his potential enemy.

"Ohmygod," Alex heard Dana whisper. "They're right, the bartender is a total hottie!"

Hottie was one way of describing it.

Dangerous adversary was another. Even though he was handling other customers, his gaze subtly snapped to Alex, golden eyes that flashed at him from the bright lights over the bar. Tall, tanned, dark hair shaved short, a crooked nose and a slash across his lips, with brightly colored plugs in both his ears. Handsome, perhaps. But Alex could feel it, practically see it past those eyes that this wasn't a normal person.

No, this was an apex predator starring at him. A predator that moved and talked like a man, but beneath the skin, he was something far more fearsome. And yet, Alex couldn't figure out what he was. He could smell him perfectly, fur and blood, a musky scent that was all animal, but what animal that was, he couldn't place. Alex stared at him, and he stared right back. They were aware of each other's presence, and yet, they didn't seem to know how to react to the other.

At least, not with everyone here.

The bartender finally had time to move over to them, pulling on a charming smile that he flashed at Dana.

"Hi there, what can I get you?" the bartender asked pleasantly.

"Same thing everyone else is here for," Dana replied with a wink. The bartender laughed and nodded.

"Gotcha, gotcha. And uh, you man?" he asked Alex.

"Nothing," Alex replied stiffly. "Alcohol and I…Don't agree with each other."

"Heh, yeah, tell me about it," the bartender rolled his eyes with a knowing grin. "Lemme get you squared away then, miss."

Alex watched him like a hawk, the way he moved, the way he breathed, the way he did everything really. What was he, who he was he trying to hide? It wasn't an Infected, no way he could be. The smell alone was enough to tell Alex that, but it killed him inside not knowing. He watched the bartender, and even the man was busy making drinks and making conversation, he knew he was still watching him back.

Dana raved about her drink a minute later, said it was so good, try it Alex, just one sip, won't hurt ya. Alex agreed, just one sip, and he took the glass from Dana's hand and put it to his lips. The bartender was watching him intently as he did, and they both held eye contact as Alex tipped it up slightly, just to let a bit of the drink to slide past his lips and into his mouth. It dissipated immediately upon contact with his tongue. His mouth burned afterwards, and he could feel the virus recoiling from the disgusting concoction, as little as he had consumed.

"Not really my taste," Alex said. The bartender gave him a toothy sneer, and he moved on to help other customers. Alex gave the drink back to Dana, let her drink and chatter at him, all the while he kept his eyes on the other man. He hadn't realized he had been watching him so intently until Dana said to him-

"Will you just get his number already?"

Alex blinked and sputtered.

"W-What?"

"Oh come on Alex, I know you've been checking him out all night. Just get his number before we leave and call him later, okay?"

"N-no, it's not like that-"

"Suuure it isn't, Alex, suuure," Dana snickered at him as she set her empty glass down. "I'm gonna go dance again, and when I come back for you, you better have some digiiiits."

She left some money with him for the drink, then bounced back off to the dance floor. Alex ground his teeth together as she abandoned him, wishing he could have just explained what was really going on, and how they really needed to leave before something happened.

"Girls, am I right?"

Alex whipped around to stare at the bartender, but found him down and across the bar away from him, his back turned as he made a drink for someone else. Alex's eyes narrowed at him, had he heard? No way he could have heard anything over the sound of the music and his distance away from them. Especially with those ear plugs, but perhaps they weren't there to block sound out, but greatly mute it instead.

Later on, Alex and Dana walked out of the club back into the streets of Brooklyn, and Dana complained loudly that he really should have gotten that guy's number, he was totally into him, god, why did she have such a dense virus of an older brother who couldn't realize how gay he was for the cutest bartender in Brooklyn?

Alex promised her he'd go back some time to see him again. That ended up being a lot sooner than he cared to let on.

 **x-X-X-x**

It was the early hours of the morning when Bad Weather was closed, and its employees finally cleaned the place up and could set out towards home. Alex sat perched at the top of it, watching and waiting for one particular man to leave. He moved carefully down the side of the building, bidding his time until his target finally left. Whether the bartender knew he was there or not, he gave no indication as he walked outside, even lifted his face up and inhaled deeply through his nose. Started to carry on as normal, but stopped short when someone called out, "Hey Desmond, wait up!"

Alex nearly growled at this interruption, waited and waited as the newcomer talked to…"Desmond". After what felt like forever, they finally parted, and Alex was free to follow. Desmond walked on normally for a couple blocks until he took a random turn and began to walk at a faster pace. Alex was still hot on his trail, still unseen, but not unnoticed. Desmond's pace quickened until he was all but running, and Alex was impressed by his sudden speed and how well he kept up with it.

But it wasn't going to be enough to get away from him.

He was an excellent adversary however, suddenly shooting down alleys and easily bouncing between buildings to overcome a wall in the center and continue on. Alex hoped he would soon grow tired, and yet, that didn't seem like it would happen any time soon. He was growing impatient, and decided to forgo any sort of stealth. He needed to catch him, needed to find out, just needed to know.

With a vicious snarl, Alex leapt for him, the virus shooting out from his body to propel him right into Desmond. They crashed, they rolled, they tumbled, and they dissolved into a fit of thrashing limbs and growls and screeches. It was too much noise, and Desmond nearly howled as Alex wrapped a thick tendril of black and red around his middle, and leapt away to the top of a building where they could continue this in private.

He all but slammed Desmond to the rooftop, yet the other man nearly grunted from the force, when normally such an impact would have snapped a normal person's spine. Alex held him down in place, crawling over him to keep him still, ready to figure this mystery out. To Desmond's credit, he still writhed beneath him, growling and snarling like a trapped animal, the sound too real for comfort.

"Let me go!" Desmond snarled at him. His eyes had changed, they looked more wild, like the beast underneath was pushing its way to the surface. His hands, thicker now, dug into the tendril holding him down, and Alex watched as his fingernails seemed to elongate and turn to claws that dug into the virus.

"What are you?" Alex demanded.

"You'll find out in a fucking minute if you don't let me go, asshole!"

Desmond writhed even more, thrashing violently as his now jaws snapped at the air. He was changing before Alex's very eyes, and Alex had no intent to do anything until he saw thing for what it really was.

"Show me. Let me see you. I want to see you. Do it."

Desmond responded with a pained whine, and Alex let him go finally to watch the real magic happen. His body seemed to move under his skin, bones bulging against skin as they moved and re-shifted into place. His clothes ripped open as he thickened, hair sprouting up through it. Alex back away in anticipation, watching Desmond transform before him until…

Until…

Desmond was gone, and in his place was a very large wolf with the shredded remains of clothing sticking to him.

Alex had seen wolves in pictures and on TV, but this was way bigger, more real, more unnatural. He stared at the wolf in awe and shock, even as it moved and it stood on its legs to tear off the last of the clothes on it. The awe faded away when it turned towards him, and he felt the growl it let loose vibrate through him. The wolf snarled, lips peeling back to reveal twin rows of large, sharp teeth. Its ears pressed back, shoulders hunched, and oh, it didn't look happy to see him.

"Shit," Alex uttered, all he had time to say before the wolf leapt at him with lightning speed. He grunted out in surprise as the back of his head slammed into the rooftop, and glistening jaws found his throat and tore into it. The virus wailed as it was suddenly exposed to the outside world, pulsating out from the wound, and with a mighty roar, Alex shoved the wolf off him. It tumbled away from the force, but was back on its feet in a flash.

Alex picked himself up, the virus still spilling from his neck. But he watched the wolf's reaction as the virus slithered back into place and closed the tear up as if it was never there in the first place. The wolf was visibly surprised, but it seemed to brush it off fairly quickly, because it came rushing back at him a second time. Alex's arms turned to claws in a flurry of virus, and this time, he was prepared.

They clashed, fighting literal tooth and nail with each other. They barked and growled as they rolled across the roof together, wounds being inflicted and closing up just as quickly. Their fight moved from that roof to another, the wolf leaping across the buildings with the same ease as Alex. It was impossible to escape, not that they were really trying to. They weren't going to stop until the other could no longer fight.

The sky above them turned from washed out black to gray, and then a dark orange and purple as the sun began to worm its way up.

Their attacks become more and more desperate they tried to gain the upper hand over the other. Oddly enough, Alex actually felt himself growing tired. It had been a long time since he fought anything that could wear him out, not since the Supreme Hunter, not since Greene…This wolf was clearly something else. He could feel the wolf felt the same, becoming sluggish in movement, but its bites and leaps still full of power. The longer they fought, the longer it took their wounds to heal, and blood splattered concrete.

And then finally, just as the sun was peeking out from the horizon, the wolf collapsed on top of Alex, tongue lolled out from his mouth, lifeless and energy spent. Alex couldn't even bring himself to push it off, slumped on the ground with the virus trying to push itself back into his body and seal up the holes in him. They lied there in a panting, exhausted heap.

The wolf's weight on him shifted, and he heard a sigh. Alex glanced down to see a very naked Desmond sprawled atop of him, back to human in a blink of an eye. Still healing lacerations coated his skin, and Alex was amazed that they were able to fight as long as they did (though he was sure he looked just as worse for wear).

Eventually they moved, Desmond rolling off him to blink and glance around in a stupor. The first words out of his mouth were, "Where are my fucking clothes?"

A good block away by that point.

Alex slowly rose after him, watching stomp around the rooftop to look over towards other buildings, trying to determine where they could be. But Alex knew, and Desmond let out a yelp when he managed to shoot out a large tendril to grab his middle.

"I don't wanna do this shit again, man" Desmond groaned tiredly.

"We're not, trust me" Alex said, and he launched himself into the air back towards where it all began.

Desmond's clothes were salvageable to say the least, but the bartender wasn't at all pleased by it regardless.

"Fucking A…Didn't ask for this today, man…Should have stayed away…Shouldn't have come back…God fucking dammit" Desmond muttered as he pulled on his pants, more tattered shorts now. "These were my good work pants too, dickhead. Gonna have to get a new pair…Fucking hell…Fucking Blacklight virus of all things…Fucking walks into work and fucks me up…The hell's your problem man?"

"I wanted to know," Alex said quietly, hardly disturbed by the slew of curses the other man threw at him. "I…I needed to know."

"Could have asked!" Desmond snapped at him. "Without kidnapping me!"

"Didn't know how," Alex shrugged. "You knew what I was…"

"Yeah well, that's a smell that doesn't leave your mind real easy," Desmond rolled his eyes. "I remember that shit, man. Awful times. Goddamn…I gotta work again tonight…Need to get home and sleep…Ugh, fucked my day up dude, really fucked it up."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Alex grunted. "Need a ride to your place?"

Desmond's eyes narrowed at him, then glanced down to his arms, then up to his face.

"Don't got much of a choice unless the subway wants to see me beat to shit, huh?"

 **x-X-X-x**

Dana was making breakfast by the time Alex got back to their apartment. She glanced up at him in surprise from where she was scrambling eggs at their tiny kitchen.

"There you are!" she cried. "Where'd you go last night?"

"I uh…Had some business to take care of," Alex said simply. "Don't worry about it."

Dana quirked a brow at him. She hummed and nodded, and went back to her eggs.

"Would you like something to eat then?" she asked him. Alex shook his head. "Okay, just offering….You went back for that bartender, didn't you?"

Alex had started moving towards the bedroom when she said that, and he froze in mid-step for a few moments before continuing to walk.

"I still didn't get his number" Alex mumbled, then walked away to lie down for a few hours. He heard Dana groan loudly and grumble about how she could possibly be related to him, as dense as he was.


	2. Chapter 2

In today's exciting installment, the assholes do what they do best; be assholes.

 **x-X-X-x**

* * *

He couldn't get Desmond out of his mind. Couldn't get away from the idea of a man turning into a _wolf_ of all things. It made sense, all the things he had smelled from him, all the things he noticed. But wolfman? It perplexed Alex. Any thoughts or memories on what it meant couldn't be surfaced from his collective mind. Apparently it hadn't been important to anyone he had consumed in the past, so it wasn't that important now. But Alex needed to know.

That next night, Alex borrowed Dana's laptop while she slept, went to Google, and typed in "man turns to wolf". Immediately, the first things that popped up were articles and websites on werewolves. _Werewolf_. Lycanthrope. Shapeshifter. Humans, cursed to transform into a beastly wolf under the light of the full moon. Monstrous beings that would lose all reason, and hunt and kill while the full moon remained in the sky. They would return to their human forms come sunrise, with little to no recollection of what happened the night before.

 _Werewolf._

It made sense now. The smells, the behavior, the transformation…How was it possible though? Everything Alex read said over and over that it was a mythological, supernatural creature. It didn't exist. It wasn't supposed to exist. And yet, there was Desmond. It didn't make sense anymore, it was utterly impossible, and yet, it happened, right in front of him. But perhaps, if killer viruses could be sentient and take on the life of a human, then werewolves could surely exist too, as incredible as it was.

The question now, what did he do about this?

Really what could he do? Who was he going to tell, and who would believe him? They were as implausible as each other, getting anyone to believe it without seeing it would be impossible. Perhaps it would be easier to just…forget about it. He got what he wanted. He saw what this Desmond was. It should have been enough. If Alex had learned anything in his relatively short life, it was that it was better to keep himself out of things where he didn't belong, less he make the situation worse.

So he did his best to move on from it. Resume life as normal, whatever normal could possibly be for him. Except that was way easier said than done. Because no matter what Alex did, his mind kept drifting back to him. Kept going back to Desmond, from standing behind the bar and looking at him with predatory eyes, to the true beast itself, snarling mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

For the first time since he had awoken in the morgue, Alex felt that sense of need, to discover and learn, to uncover a truth of identity. He wanted to know more from Desmond. How did this happen? When did this happen? Were there others? Did they live here in the city? So many burning questions, and it was the wolfman himself who could only answer them for him.

 **x-X-X-x**

Alex could hear Desmond growl in frustration all the way down the hall. He waited patiently where he stood, leaning against the wall outside Desmond's apartment with his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. It was about five in the morning, pretty early, most businesses weren't even quite open yet. Alex had only been waiting here for about ohhh, half an hour in anticipation of his quarry coming home. It had been about two weeks since they last saw each other, and even still, Desmond was none too pleased to see him when he stalked over to him.

"You know, I thought I kinda made it clear to uh, leave me the fuck alone?" Desmond snarled as he approached.

"I have questions," Alex started as he popped off away from the wall.

"Too bad," Desmond growled, going as far as roughly knocking his shoulder against Alex to check him out of the way. Alex was hardly disturbed, he could tell Desmond was more than annoyed by his presence. The bump, from everything Alex had read about wolf behavior (and boy, did he read a lot) was just the other man's way of announcing his displeasure. "Ever hear of Google?"

"I did that already. I still have questions," Alex stated.

Desmond growled again as he unlocked his apartment door.

"Well that sucks for you, now doesn't it?"

"Can we talk? Please?"

"Right now? Cause I'm not in the mood."

"Then when can we talk?"

"Never."

"No I want to-"

A tendril shot out to fully slam the door inwards into the apartment.

"Talk now. If you would please."

Desmond shot him a venomous glare, and Alex matched it. They held eye contact for an uncomfortably long time (a minute tops) before Desmond sighed and walked inside.

"Well get in here before my neighbors start to complain." he said over his shoulder, and Alex followed suit.

The apartment was terribly small, a single unit. One step from the door, in the kitchen. From there another step into the bedroom that was also the living room, and then another step to a door that was most assuredly the bathroom. It was tiny and shitty, far too claustrophobic for Alex's liking. Oh, and the whole place REEKED of that overwhelming, musky wild scent that attracted Alex to Desmond in the first place.

The door clicked shut behind them, and Desmond was already moving away into the kitchen, dropping keys on the counter and tossing aside a jacket in the general direction of the bed.

"Let's make this quick, common cold," Desmond said as he rummaged around through the kitchen, pulling out coffee filters and grinds. "Start asking those questions."

"How did it happen?" Alex asked bluntly.

"How do you _think_ it happened?" Desmond scoffed, and looked over at him while pointing at the scar across his lips. "You don't get these kinds of scars for funsies, I'll tell ya that."

"Why do you still have a scar then?" Alex quirked a brow. "You didn't have a single one after our fight."

"Man, I dunno. I guess you can call it the mark of the beast or some shit. Got me across the face first thing, and it just never went away. Whatever it was supposed to be, it worked."

Alex nodded before continuing on.

"How long ago did it happen?"

Desmond paused as he visually seemed to wrack his brain before he poured the grinds into the filter.

"Five, six years ago?" he answered. "I dunno, I was still a kid, don't remember much from that night."

"Then how'd you live?"

"Fuck if I know," Desmond laughed dryly. "It was my shit luck I got attacked in the first place, guess fate was trying to make it up to me. Dunno why, it kinda fucking SUCKS being a fucking werewolf of all things."

"It seems to have its advantages," Alex said.

"Yeah, but the cons outweigh them." Desmond grumbled as he poured water into the coffee maker. "Had to give up a lot of my favorite foods. Had to stop listening to a lot of my favorite music. Can't go out half the time. Have to take off work for a night or two once a month. It's fucking bullshit."

"Then why move to New York? Why not some little mountain town in the middle of nowhere?"

"Cause I was a reaaaally stupid kid, who thought he could run away to the Big Apple and live out all his dreams. And I dunno, I thought maybe this werewolf thing wouldn't be so bad, and things would be fine once I got settled in. Ah, new flash to my younger self, they didn't. But you know, can't exactly go back home and announce, hey mom and dad, it's me, your son, I'm a fucking movie monster now. Love meeee."

"It's not that bad," Alex snorted.

"Yeah, says the guy who literally started the movie monster apocalypse" Desmond huffed as he turned the coffee maker on, and it booted up to life.

"That wasn't initially my fault," Alex frowned.

"Initially?"

"We're getting off topic."

"Heh, alright, sure, whatever. What else do you wanna pry out of my brain, huh?"

Alex didn't say anything at first. With the coffee being made, Desmond had turned around to lean against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, a lopsided grin on his face. He looked so aloof, unassuming with his boyish looks, the way he slouched where he stood, the most unlikely person to actually be hiding a deadly beast beneath his skin. Alex wasn't really sure what to say anymore. Well, maybe except…

"So that's it?" Desmond asked. "You got nothing? After all that? Cause if that's it, then please, vacate the premise, you're stinkin' up the place."

Alex gave him a rather incredulous look, because really, really he was the one making this place smell like a sweat lodge after an orgy of lumberjacks took place. Really?

"If I think of any more, I'll be sure to let you know," Alex said, and started to turn back to the door before he paused and wheeled back around. "In fact, I have one right now."

"Well spill it."

"Uhm…Well uhm can uhm…"

"Say it, Mercer," Desmond growled. "Before I throw you out myself."

"Can I get your…pho.. num..err?" Alex mumbled. Desmond blinked at him in surprise. "Can I get your phone number?" he tried again, louder. Desmond blinked again, and pointed to himself, who, him? "No, your fucking coffee maker, I love vanilla hazelnut. Yes, you, you canine idiot."

"Excuse the fuck out of me, it's not like I have the fucking flu asking for my number!" Desmond cried out. "The fuck do you need it for?"

"So I can ask you questions whenever, obviously….And if I go back home without it, my sister will make fun of me again," Alex confessed the last part quietly. Not that it mattered, cause Desmond heard him loud and clear. The other man''s look of shock twisted into amusement as he snickered softly.

"Oh, shit. Damn dude, could have said that earlier." Desmond chuckled as he pulled out his phone. A short second later, he barked out in laughter after Alex produced his own from his pocket. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT, AHAHAHA!"

"It's a phone?" Alex supplied as he flipped it open. It was an older model, a flip phone, cheap, didn't cost much to supply with minutes. Dana didn't trust him with a smartphone, didn't want him losing it or smashing it (very likely things that could happen to such a small device). He didn't understand why Desmond thought it was so funny though.

"I just…Okay holy shit, I just didn't expect Alex fucking Mercer, bio-terrorist and mighty morphin power virus to have a rose pink, Motorola razor flip phone. What, did your sissy give this to you?"

"Yes," Alex said, and if he could blush, his would definitely be a bright red right now. What was wrong with his phone? Dana said it was a great color. Alex loved the color of his phone. "Can you just give me your number already?"

"Yeah yeah, holy crap, hand it here."

They exchanged phones, Desmond mumbling about dealing with a dinosaur again as they went into one another's contacts to add their respective phone numbers.

"Ohmygooddd, you only have two people in here. And lemme guess, this Dana your baby sis?"

"…Yeah and?"

"Nothing man, just….God this is too funny. You're too cute, this is amazing oh man."

Alex shifted uncomfortably, especially adding his name to Desmond's contacts list, and there were a dozen people in here. Alex had to remind himself it wasn't his fault, it was kind of hard to make friends when we he was a very wanted and dangerous being, making it difficult to maintain a safe, healthy relationship with anyone aside from his sister and Ragland.

"Here," Alex grunted as he tossed Desmond's phone back to him, and his back from Desmond's. "Rose pink is a _fine_ color, by the way."

"I wasn't saying that," Desmond sneered. "I'm just saying, you don't strike me as a rose kind of guy. Now, maybe hot pink-"

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Alex huffed as he crossed the room to the one window in the apartment.

"Ahm, where the fuck you going?"

"Out, like you wanted me to."

"Yeah well the door- Hey hey hey!"

Alex pushed the window open, ripped off the screen, and started crawling out through it.

"I'll call you later," Alex said casually as he pushed himself. "Later tonight though."

He looked back inside the apartment at Desmond's stunned expression. "See ya 'round, Fluffy."

Alex grinned, then rocketed away like a bullet to the nearest opposite building, and bounded away across the rooftops. He didn't stick around to watch Desmond run to the window after him and stare out of it in utter awe. Rather, Alex could only imagine Dana's face when he got home, and she woke up to see the sparkling new phone number in contacts list.

* * *

 **x-X-X-x**

Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far, I appreciate it!


	3. Chapter 3

did you know this story is almost a year old and has only been updated twice now since then? i know, it's wild. thank you all for being _so_ patient. patient out the wazoo. i appreciate it.

 **x-X-X-x**

* * *

His phone was missing. Alex could have sworn he just set it down on the kitchen table, walked away for a minute, and then came back and….Huh…Well, it wasn't like he was using it for anything special. Certainly hadn't been spending the last couple days agonizing over sending a text message to Desmond, nope, hadn't been doing that….Not at all….

Except he totally had been and now he was really happy that somehow, the burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Alex would worry about this phone later, and now he could do…Nothing, same as before. Actually, more like obsesses over this new game Dana had downloaded, and three days later he was done with it, main story, side missions, collectibles, and unlockables. No help from any online guides either. It was pretty great. Then after he took a five hour power nap to recharge his batteries, and when he awoke, his phone was back on the kitchen counter.

Didn't question it, just picked it up, shoved it back into biomass, and begged Dana to get the DLC, cause he wanted _moooore_. But Dana insisted she actually get to play the game first, and Alex had to agonizingly sit and watch her play while doing his best to not tell her what to do, where to go, how to do it, not spoil anything….

It was Thursday, five minutes after three in the afternoon, and his phone buzzed rapidly within his biomass. Upon extracting his phone, Alex was pretty surprised to see he was getting a call from _Desmond_. Alex flipped the phone open and pressed it to his ear.

"Hi?" Alex said.

" _Hey asshole where the FUCK are you?"_ Desmond snarled at him.

"At…home?" Alex blinked in confusion.

" _Well jackass, don't fucking ask me out to coffee and not show up."_

"What?!" Alex nearly dropped the phone. He hadn't talked to Desmond in over a week, when the hell did he ever-

Alex froze, then slowly turned towards his sister. Dana was staring at the TV, thumbs flicking over the controller, and a very suspiciously-nearly-guilty-oh-shit-I'm-caught look on her face.

"Ohmygod," Alex said softly.

" _Yeah, ohhhmygod, you're an asshole,"_

"Look-…Fuck….Give me ten minutes and I'll be right there. Don't go anywhere, I'm coming," Alex promised as he jumped up from the couch.

" _Yeah, uh huh sure. Ten minutes fucker, ten. Minutes. And be quick about it."_

The call suddenly ended. Alex pulled his phone away from his ear and went into his text messages. He had a lot from Desmond in his inbox, but it seemed like his outbox was just as full from texts as well. Texts from within the last few days that he had no recollection writing and sending. Which only fucking meant-

"You owe me, Dana!" Alex snapped as he found which coffee shop he and Desmond had "planned" to meet at. "That DLC better be here by the time I get back!"

"Alex, wait!" Dana shouted as he ripped the door open, very lucky he didn't just rip it off its hinges. "Here, for your date!" Dana waved a ten dollar bill at him. Alex frowned, shot some biomass out to snatch the bill from her hand, and he stomped out of the apartment.

"Have fun!" Dana called to him through the door.

 **x-X-X-x**

True to his word, Alex made it there, ten minutes on the dot. It was exhausting to use that much of the virus all at once to make it here, but he made it. Alex stepped inside, flicking down his hood and glancing around for his "date". Wasn't hard to find, tucked away in an empty corner in his own, stark white hoodie with red trim was Desmond glaring at him from across the room. Alex sighed and made his way over.

"I can explain-" Alex started.

"I'm getting really sick and tired of wasting my time on you," Desmond growled at him.

"I know, I understand. But believe me when I say, this isn't my fault."

Desmond glared even harder at him.

"Look, my sister…She stole my phone from me, and I guess she was talking to you…Do I honestly seem like the kind of person who would use winky faces and little smilies at you over a text?"

"Stranger things have happened."

"Okay but I'm sorry I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm sorry my sister was my bothering you, it won't happen again, I promise."

"Well, look here Mercer, I-" Desmond began, but was cut off when the barista called out his name. Desmond paused, huffed, then stood up and stalked past him. Alex was already braced for the near shove of a shoulder bump the other man gave him. "Sit your ass down, I'll deal with you a second," Desmond muttered loud enough for him to hear.

Alex nodded back wordlessly, and he took the opposing seat at the table. Desmond returned moments later, plopping himself down into his seat with a tall styrofoam mug of coffee in hand. They stared at each other as Desmond sipped from it, not saying a word initially, and holding each other's gaze for an awkwardly long time.

"Could you not?" Desmond finally snapped at him.

"Not what?" Alex asked.

"Do that. The staring. It's uncomfortable."

"It's rude to stare, I know."

"No, I mean, it's uncomfortable for _both_ of us."

"Oh…"

"As in, _we're_ taking it as a challenge. So knock it off."

Alex dropped his gaze to the table. Cause honestly, the last thing he wanted to do was bring out the big bad wolf for another play date, especially not here. The shop was quiet, only a few other people plus the baristas in here. Even then they were still keeping their voices surprisingly quiet, not that either one needed to speak loudly to be heard by the other. Alex noted that Desmond wasn't wearing any ear plugs like he did at the club.

"It's not too loud for you here?" Alex asked him.

"It's bearable," Desmond grunted.

"I see….Hey….I got a real me question to ask you,"

"Here we go…."

"Does coffee not make you sick? You seem to enjoy it."

"Oh," Desmond actually laughed, a little, surprised that's what Alex was asking. "I mean, it does. I get decaf. No sugar. Lactose-free milk. You can buy decaf beans too and brew 'em at home. But coffee gives you the shits no matter who you are, so you know."

"Mmmm….no, I don't" Alex shook his head.

"Not into coffee?"

"More like, not into…Anything consumed by humans. Coffee, water, milk…Foods in general. I don't need it."

Desmond titled his head, brows furrowed together.

"What do you mean you don't need it?" he asked.

"I don't need food and drink to survive," Alex shrugged. "I barely even need to sleep. If I don't use any of my powers I can go a good couple weeks without needing to consume something."

Desmond stared at him unblinkingly, eyes just slightly shifting from side to side as his brows crinkled further than Alex thought they possibly could.

"…That is the freakiest thing I've ever heard," Desmond commented.

"Are you trying to say I'm a freak?" Alex asked with a slight grin. "You, of all people?"

"Not like that," Desmond snorted. "But 'consume'? Really dude?"

"Consume, eat, it's kinda the same thing for me. Taking organic material and breaking it down to its simplest forms and distributing all its nutrients to every cell of my body and turning that into energy. Consume just seems to be the better term," Alex explained. Desmond looked confused. Very confused. Like he wasn't quite sure what to do with all this information all at once.

"Maybe you are kinda a freak," Desmond said quietly. "But so am I so, whatever."

Alex chuckled as his grin widened.

"Hey, remember how you were so into learning shit about me? Well I think I deserve to ask a couple questions, or ten, about you."

"Sure, fair's fair. What do you wanna know?"

"So, I think I've gathered by now, you're not human. At all."

"Nope."

"You're all the Blacklight Virus?"

"Yup."

"The whole virus enchilada?"

"Everything you see before you. Every inch of skin, every follicle of hair, and even my clothes are the virus. Watch."

Without much fanfare, Alex physically reached into his chest, through his clothes and into what would be his sternum, and pulled his phone out from the depths of his biomass and unceremoniously dropped it onto the table. Desmond sat his coffee down to lean back in his chair and steeple his fingers together, breathing out heavily.

"My phone is obviously real, viruses don't get data plans or wi-fi. But yeah, other than that, I am one hundred percent composed of a million micro-virus cells compiled together and stretched out to form me."

Desmond blinked slowly, and glanced around the room in disbelief, as if he was the only person who saw this happen. Which, he was. Alex found this to be rather exciting. It wasn't everyday he just got to casually mention that he was a literal walking pile of cells mashed together to make the vague shape and look of a person. And everyone should be _thankful_ he chose this form over something completely different and more grotesque.

"Fucking hell dude," Desmond muttered, and shook his head, followed by a short laugh. He picked his coffee back up and took a few more sips, shaking his head more afterwards. "Fuuucking hell….So everything that was going on during the outbreak…That was all you?"

"Not entirely. That was mainly the Redlight virus, which I'm derived from. I'm a superior, modified form of it. I mean, you remember those big guys with the literal asses for faces, right?"

"Ugh, yeah I do….Ew fuck, can you turn into one of those?" Desmond grimaced.

"Something similar, but generally more pleasing. Trust me, you're extremely fortunate you get this stupid ass face instead of those stupid ass faces."

"Well, your stupid ass face isn't that bad to look at, so yeah. I'm counting my blessings." Desmond winked at him.

If Alex could blush, he would, only just a little. Instead he scoffed and brushed his hair back in embarrassment.

"I mean…It's a borrowed face, so to speak. It's not mine."

"Aw fuck what are you, a body snatcher or some shit sort of virus?"

"Yes- Well, yes and no. When I was made, I was just a couple million cells clumped together in a test tube. When I became the me you see now, it was because my super asshole creator's body was right there ripe for the taking and well, I took it. My uh, father you could say, was a huge dick and totally had it coming, it's not a big loss."

"Huge dicks for a dad? Dude, teelll me about it." Desmond rolled his eyes. "I had one back at home too, don't think highly of him either."

"I mean, I dunno how much worse he could be than mine who literally started the apocalypse as a big middle finger to everyone."

"Okay, got me there, but my dad…My whole family, they're just so fucking extra to the tenth degree."

"How extra?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Alex gave him a look, and Desmond grinned behind his coffee. They both knew a statement like that was pretty loaded, and it they both knew that after everything they had revealed so far, how could it get any worse?

"Fine, okay, try this on for size germ boy; Ancient, worldwide order of spies and assassins that have been fighting an equally ancient order over freedom and power that could affect all of mankind. That's how fucking extra it is."

It was Alex's turn to be taken aback. Desmond had the biggest shit eating grin on his face, and Alex couldn't really quite believe him. He had to be making _that_ up.

"Did you get that a from a video game or something?" Alex asked with a raised brow.

"Hey, I told you," Desmond sneered. "If you want the better, less exciting answer, crazy hippies living off the grid who fear wizards and the mole people."

"That is a better answer, yeah."

"You're no fucking fun," Desmond rolled his eyes. He took another sip at his coffee, but pulled the cup away a second later and lightly shook it; empty.

"Oh," Alex said. "I guess our coffee date's over."

"Wellll, just the coffee part," Desmond replied, and glanced up at Alex. "We could uh…Move this elsewhere if you want. I'm actually really enjoying talking to you? And uh…I dunno, if you still wanna hang out, we can, if you'd like."

Alex blinked, oh, wasn't expecting that. How long had they been here just chatting? It didn't seem like much had changed in the shop, except some people had switched out, and it was a little bit darker outside than it had been when they got here. But he had to agree with Desmond, he was enjoying hanging out with him and just….yeah, talking. He felt like he owed Desmond a little bit more of his time because of Dana, soooo…..So….

"Sure, that sounds like fun." Alex smiled.

"Cool," Desmond smiled back. "Let's go make trouble.

* * *

 **x-X-X-x**

back to not working on this for 6 months lol bye


	4. Chapter 4

"Ah-woooo-oooooo-ooooo!"

"Uhm, what the fuck was that?"

"A…wolf howl?"

"It sounded NOTHING like an actual howl, are you shitting me?"

"Isn't that how it's…supposed to sound?"

"Yeah, sure, in a kid's cartoon! Okay first of all, it's not this sad awoooo, that's more like a coyote. Secondly, you're making the wrong face for it. Open your mouth- No, more like this-"

Desmond reached over to mush and mold Alex's face into the proper howling shape, more open mouthed with the lips relaxed, and the head tipped back slightly. "Okay, _now_ try howling. And not howl so much as try to just like…Yell, I guess. Just try it."

Alex shrugged an okay, breathed in, and breathed back out with another pretense of a would be wolf howl. It echoed loudly around them in the small part of Central Park that they were at, just by the bank of The Lake but it felt like it just…Didn't have the same impact as a real howl would, or so Alex felt.

"Not bad, not baaaad," Desmond praised him. "Wanna hear a _real_ one now?"

"Yes please," Alex nodded. Desmond grinned at him, then threw his head back, and let out the absolutely most inhuman, animalistic howl that Alex ever heard. More so than the howls and screams of Hunters, no, _this_ was the real deal. It was eerily beautiful, and Alex could only stare in pure admiration.

Desmond stopped howling…Just in time for both of them to hear every single dog within a five mile radius explode into barks and howls of their own. They exchanged surprised looks, cause ooooops, didn't mean to do that, but seconds later they burst out laughing.

"Weeellll," Desmond chuckled. "Remind me not to do THAT again!"

"I thought it was pretty cool," Alex smiled. "It sounded intense."

"It better have. That is an authentic howl thank you very much, one hundred percent real, not faking it in the slightest. Unlike you, you Faker McFakerson."

"I mean, I could always consume you and take all your powers, _and_ your authentic wolf howling…."

"...Please actually don't do that."

Alex bared his teeth at Desmond mockingly, faking a growl as Desmond matched him with a better one, then they erupted back into laughter. They quieted down finally, leaning back against the ground. Their hands were mere inches apart from one another, twitching against the grass. Occasionally one of them would move, and their hands would brush together, but neither one dared to grab the other.

Alex was having a great time, more fun than he thought he would. After leaving the coffee shop, they had walked, and walked, hands stuffed into their pockets as they let their feet carry them wherever. It's how they got to Central Park, at least. Seemed really cheesy, but this time of day, with dusk moving in, it was perfect. They sat and watched the water, ducks sitting atop its surface, civilians moving like busy ants on the opposite bank.

"Hey," Alex started. "Weird question."

"What's up?"

"Do you ever look at them….People….Like they're uh...Like you know…"

Desmond was quiet for a moment before he offered up an answer, "...Sheep?"

"Yeah, like sheep. A bunch of dumb animals packed in one place waiting to die….So that's a yes?"

"Y-...Yeaaaaah," Desmond sighed. "I try not to, honestly. But sometimes I get this like...Feeling. And I look at them and think man, it would be _so_ easy to just rip them all apart right now. Wouldn't feel a thing, they'd die so fast….It's scary."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why is it scary?"

Desmond blinked at him, clearly taken aback. Alex stared back at him indifferently.

"Cause they're people?"

"And?"

" _We're_ people!"

"Are we though?"

"Are we not?"

Alex mused it over for a moment and shrugged.

"Well, I still consider myself a person, even if I turn into a bloodthirsty monster once a month."

"Okay, I get it. I was just wondering," Alex rolled his eyes.

"...You're a fucking freak dude."

"I know."

Another silence fell between them. The sun continued to dip, the shadows lengthening, street lights flickering on one by one.

"...Does that make me bad?" Alex asked.

"For what?"

"Not really...caring about other people?"

"Nah man, I get it. It's hard to look at them that way sometimes. I don't think it's on purpose though, it's not something we're actively thinking about...Right?"

"Right. I...I personally have struggled for years to connect to humanity, I guess. Other people. Normal people. It's hard cause I'm not a person, just a fucked up amalgamation of one single person plus like...a dozen give or take. So, you know."

"I do. Guess it was easy for me then. Never had to question if I was human or not. Always knew I was, even after the uh, "accident". Now I'm human with a literal wolf trapped in my skin and he's allowed to come out of his cage only once every thirty days to take a piss."

"Do random transformations not count?"

"Oh, like when you forced me to?"

"I didn't force you-"

"You attacked me out of nowhere and held me down until I did."

"...Wow, yeah, okay, that...That was a dick move for me. I'm sorry about that."

"Yeah you should be. _Ass_."

"Well I haven't seen you not staring at it all night, so there!" Alex sneered. "...Wait, wait-"

"NOPE TOO LATE!" Desmond howled in laughter. "YOU ALREADY SAID IT, CAN'T TAKE IT BACK NOW AHAHA!"

Alex groaned and buried his hands in his face, fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Desmond laughed and laughed at him, reaching over to pull one of Alex's hands away and rub his thumb over his knuckles.

"You're not wrong though, you do have one hell of an ass."

"Is that good?" Alex asked, peeking out from behind his other hand. Desmond nodded, and kissed the back of his hand. If Alex had any blood, it'd be rushing to his face cause _holy shit_.

 **x-X-X-x**

He wasn't sure how he ended up here, but here they were, and Alex was actually enjoying it. Here was hours later back in Desmond's apartment. Here specifically was being in Desmond's bed, the two of them tangled up together- Fully clothed mind you. They had hung out awhile longer at the park, got some late night dinner, then wandered back to Desmond's place. Alex could have left then and there but…

But man, he just couldn't bring himself to. Followed him inside and they just...Ended there on the bed, cuddling. No surprise though, wolves were social creatures, as were humans. Put two and two together, and so uh, yeah. It just happened, no force from either of them. Plus it was the first time that Alex had ever ended a date with like this in….Okay well it was the first time he had ever been on a date and completed it, period.

Much less cuddles at that. Oh, and making out. Hesitant making out on Alex's part, cause well, Desmond's face was right there and he was feeling a lot of conflicting emotions. But then it turned out that Desmond was a great kisser, extremely patient with him too (turns out when you kiss someone, you have to actually kiss them and not awkwardly press your lips against theirs, it was fucking revolutionary).

Revolutionary up until Desmond had to kick him out, cause he needed sleep at some point so he could get up later for work (fucking mouth breathing plebeian who needed money to _exist_ ).

"Can we hang out again this weekend?" Alex asked him all too eagerly as he pushed the window open and started to slip out.

"Not this one," Desmond shook his head. "It's full moon on saturday and I uh, need to be out of town, if you catch my drift."

"Oh," Alex blinked. "Well….Uhm, be safe? Don't uh...eat anyone we know or something…"

Desmond laughed and kissed him one last time. "I won't," he promised. "Try not to harass anyone while I'm gone….I had a lot of fun tonight. I'll call you- Just don't let your sister steal your phone again, okay?"

"Believe me, won't happen again," Alex promised. "I'll see you later then. Have a good trip."

Fully out the window, he launched himself away from the building and took off into the air. He bounced across the rooftops back home, feeling lighter than he ever had before. Dana was passed out on the couch when he got back to their apartment, and he gently picked her up to tuck her into her own bed properly.

Alex flopped down on the couch after, and he took a moment to decompress before picking up a couch pillow and pressing it into his face, because holy shiiiiiit, he still wasn't over it. He didn't wanna say he was in love with someone he barely knew-

But a teeny crush summed it all up just fine, right?

* * *

 **x-X-X-x**

hey folks, so, little quick update for you. starting now, I won't be updating this story from now on here on this site. if you want any more updates and other fics from me, you can find me on AO3 under the same penname of TheWritingMustache. This story right here will be updated again once it's complete, and I'll upload all the chapters from AO3. until then, there shall be no further updates. thank you for supporting me for all these years, it's been much appreciated. see you on AO3!


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